Housing Deposits are sometimes called “bonds” and sometimes called “damage deposits”, which is misleading because they’re not just about damage.
Important Extra Information
If you have or will be getting an Assured Shorthold Tenancy signed after April 6th 2007 or for which the landlord took a deposit after April 6th 2007: see both the rest of this guide and either click here for the government's web information on the new rules for deposits in Assured Shorthold tenancies or come to the SAC and pick up a copy of the red leaflet titled “Tenants – keeping your deposit safe” published by the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Having problems with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme?
If that problem has happened because your Landlord failed to protect your deposit, click here for access to information from NUS including their deposit recovery pack.
Living in Stafford Borough? Click here for the council's tenant information pack, which is a comprehensive guide for tenants, and has a section on tenancy deposit schemes.
They don’t have to ask for one: don’t worry if you’re not asked for one.
If you do have to pay a deposit, there are two main reasons why landlords ask for these:
-
The deposit covers any losses you cause the landlord without the landlord having to sue you. However, this won’t stop the landlord suing you as well if you cause losses to a higher value than the deposit.
-
The deposit gives you a stake in keeping the landlord’s house clean and not wrecking the place: if you treat the house well, you’re more likely to get your deposit back.
IMPORTANT: In England and Wales, if you rent your home on an assured shorthold tenancy that started after 6 April 2007, your landlord must place your deposit in an approved tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme.
What will the deposit cover?
Check your tenancy agreement – this might tell you specifically what your deposit covers. Whatever the contract says, the general idea that it’s there to cover losses you cause the landlord still applies. This tends to mean that if you have...
...then all or part of your deposit may not be returned to you.
The only tricky one of these is damage/dirt: whether or not you’ve paid the bills and/or the rent is easy to prove; but whether damage is caused by “fair wear and tear” (which you can’t be charged for – e.g. you only use your bed to sleep in and it falls apart) or misuse (which you can be charged for – e.g. you use your bed as a trampoline so it falls apart) is much harder to prove.
How much can it be?
There’s no lower limit for a deposit – you needn’t even be charged one at all. One month’s rent is a normal amount; and if you’re charged over two months rent as a deposit you get the right to assign the tenancy. So, almost no landlord would ever charge a tenant more than two months rent as a deposit.
IMPORTANT: Protecting your deposit starts at the very beginning of your tenancy…
When you’re moving in:
-
If your Landlord has provided an inventory (list of what furnishings and fittings are in the house and what condition they’re in), check that everything on the inventory is actually present in the house.
-
If your landlord has not provided an inventory, make one yourselves when you move in: list all the furniture and any existing damage to it and any existing damage to the house. Sign it. If your landlord agrees to sign it too, this is ideal, but do this even if s/he doesn’t: it might help get your deposit back later.
-
Alternatively – video the interior of the house; concentrating on anywhere it’s less than perfect. A lot of the more organised (better?) local landlords make such videos themselves so they have proof of how the house looked when you moved in.
While you’re living in the house:
-
Keep up-to-date with household bills
-
Keep paying the rent on time
-
Respect the furniture, fittings, and the rest of the landlord’s property.
-
See our repairs section: some sorts of minor repair are your job not the landlord’s.
-
If anything breaks as a result of fair wear and tear (normal use), tell the landlord when it happens – it should be replaced.
-
If you break anything through misuse, either own up when it happens and pay for the damage or resign yourself to losing some of your deposit to pay for a repair or replacement later on.
The principle, in legal language, is that you should behave in a “tenant-like manner”.
At the end of your tenancy
Don’t forget to contact the utility companies to ask for final bills. Then pay them when they arrive. Otherwise, the landlord might well end up paying these out of your deposit.
Do clean the house before you move out. Thoroughly. Leave the house at least as clean as you’d hope to find it if you were a new tenant moving in. Unfairly, this applies even if the house was filthy when you moved in.
Once you’ve cleaned up, ask the Landlord to look over the property with you before you leave. This will enable you to re-clean anything the landlord says isn’t good enough and to check over the inventory (if you have one). If your landlord isn’t satisfied with the condition of the house when you leave, they may try to keep your deposit; so this is about trying to get your money back!
If you want more evidence, or the landlord won’t check the house over with you, make a video of how you left the house or take photos. Put a copy of today’s Times newspaper in shot to prove you didn’t make the video weeks before you left.
After doing all this, ask your landlord how your deposit will be repaid to you.
What to do depends on what sort of tenancy you’ve had.
If it’s been an Assured Shorthold Tenancy which you signed up to, or for which you handed over your Deposit, after 6th April 2007 click on this link and check out the video.
Otherwise, read on…
When there’s a disagreement, there are only two ways by which you could end up getting more deposit back than your landlord wants: amicable negotiation or court action.
Always start with negotiation – it’s cheap, easier than court, and a court would expect you to try this first anyway. Added to which your landlord might well be a reasonable human being - if s/he’s not you can always go to court later.
You can choose to negotiate verbally if you want, but you can’t prove what’s said if you do this. So, we suggest negotiating by post (always send things by recorded delivery and always keep a copy).
Start with a request letter (like example letter 1); if you get no reply, send a further chasing letter (like example letter 2).
If you get a reply saying money will be deducted for unpaid rent or bills, ask for proof of these if you disagree.
If you get a reply saying money will be deducted for damage or cleaning, you can query the amount of money deducted (example letter 3) or argue that you didn’t cause the damage (example letter 4) or that the damage was really just “wear and tear” (example letter 5) or do several of these at once (combine the letters as needed).
Click here for example letters in Word (we've put them all together so you can mix and match easily)
If this doesn’t solve things, or you’d like individual advice on how to write to the landlord, or the landlord’s replies are problematic, please do contact us.